Protocol Overview

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Tobacco - 30-Day Quantity and Frequency - Adult #030804

Protocol Release Date

November 21, 2016

Protocol Name From Source

Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS)

Description of Protocol

Measurement of respondent’s 30-day frequency of use of drugs. Measures used to calculate the respondent’s 30-day quantity and frequency use of cigarettes. For the adult respondent, there are three sets of question protocols: (1) a protocol for Every-Day Smokers, (2) a protocol for Some-Day Smokers, and (3) a protocol for Former Smokers.

Specific Instructions

Respondents are asked the 30-day quantity and frequency questions only if they answered "yes" to the Tobacco - Smoking Status (Adult Protocol) question asking if he or she has smoked at least 100 cigarettes in his or her lifetime. The respondent is classified as an Every-Day Smoker, Some-Day Smoker, or Former Smoker based on how he or she responds to the second question in the Tobacco - Smoking Status protocol: Do you now smoke cigarettes every day, some days, or not at all?

The Working Group acknowledges that the following questions may gather sensitive information relating to the use of substances and/or illegal conduct. If the information is released it might be damaging to an individual’s employability, lead to social stigmatization, or other consequences.

For information on obtaining a Certificate of Confidentiality, which helps researchers protect the privacy of human research participants, please go to the National Human Genome Research Institute’s Institutional Review Board website.

The following are three protocols, depending on the age and frequency of usage. Question 1 is used with adults who are Every-Day Smokers. Question 2 is used with adults who are Some-Day Smokers. And Question 3 is used with adults who are Former Smokers.

The protocol from the Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey (TUS-CPS) was chosen because it is a large survey (each survey wave includes about 240,000 respondents) of the U.S. noninstitutionalized civilian population that has been conducted since 1992 in a consistent manner. It is anticipated that the survey will be conducted every four years over the next decade. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the primary sponsor of the survey series, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) serving as cosponsor between 2001 and 2007. The TUS is an adult-focused survey, and its questions are comparable to the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics’ National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and NCI’s Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS).

Interviewer must be trained and found competent to conduct personal interviews with individuals from the general population. The interviewer should be trained to prompt respondents further if a "don’t know" response is provided.

Equipment Needs

While the source instrument was developed for administration by computer, the PhenX Expert Review Panel acknowledges that these questions can be administered in a noncomputerized format.

The Expert Review Panel #3 (ERP 3) reviewed the measures in Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Substances, and Substance Abuse and Addiction domains.

Guidance from ERP 3 includes:

• Updated protocol

• New Data Dictionary

Back-compatible: Partially back-compatible (updated/similar protocol which would require some changes to the data dictionary), variable mapping between current and previous protocols can be found here.